A benefits cheat has been spared jail after being paid more than £23,000 in false claims.

John Fenton, 52, failed to declare he lived with partner Jane Harris-Scott at his home on Kennedy Avenue while claiming benefits, Macclesfield Magistrates heard.

An investigation by Cheshire East Council – which partly included evidence via Facebook – linked Mr Fenton with Ms Harris-Scott and identified fraudulent claims for job seeker’s allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit totalling £23,042 over three years.

The court heard Mr Fenton got into financial trouble while suffering from depression after the death of his son, Gavin, in 2005.

Mr Fenton campaigned for private hire vehicles to be fitted with automatic locks after Gavin died after falling from a taxi.

But magistrates told Mr Fenton that his crime would anger hard-working members of the public.

Mr Fenton pleaded guilty to failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions of his change in circumstances.

Magistrates gave him a 12-week sentence suspended for two years and 200 hours unpaid work.

The chairman of the bench said: “These offences aggravate the general man on the street greatly.

“They see their hard-earned money going where it’s not supposed to go.”

An investigation began in 2006 because the council was told Mr Fenton had been living with Ms Harris-Scott for seven years – despite him claiming he lived only with his son.

When his son moved out in June 2007, the defendant’s housing and council tax benefits were paid in full and he continued to claim he was living alone.

In October 2011, enquiries with the Criminal Records Bureau revealed Mr Fenton had named Jane Harris-Scott as his partner in 2006 while applying for a position as a home help with Age Concern in Macclesfield.

Investigating officers spotted through Facebook that in February 2011 Ms

Harris-Scott had made comments which suggested she was in a relationship with the defendant.

In a credit application in December 2011 she stated she had been cohabiting at Kennedy Avenue for more than six years.

At interview, Mr Fenton said he met Ms Harris-Scott in a pub in 1998 and used her as a reference for a job because she was a good friend.

He stated that she used to live with friends at Buckley Street but used his address because of problems with her post.

He admitted they were in a relationship but had split up a few times, stating she did not have a key to his property until she moved in April 2012.

Julian Farley, defending, told the court that Mr Fenton got into financial difficulties while suffering from depression after his son’s death.

He said: “He’s worked and paid taxes all his life.

He deeply regrets what happened and knows it’s wrong.”

Councillor Peter Raynes, Cheshire East Council Cabinet member in charge of finance, said: “This prosecution sends out a very clear message that Cheshire East is an enforcing Council and will take firm action to protect our communities from those who abuse the rules at taxpayers’ expense.

“Benefit fraud will not be tolerated. Last year we successfully prosecuted more than 30 benefits offenders and we are committed to bringing to justice people who carry out these crimes.”

You can report suspected benefit fraud by ringing the confidential freephone fraud hotline on 0800 389 2787.

You don’t have to give your name and your call will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Alternatively, you can report suspected fraud via the Council's website at cheshireeast.gov.uk